Research
Geographer Jeff Bury studies human impacts of climate change in central Andes
For residents of Peru's remote villages high in the Andes mountains, climate change is right outside the back door.
"Most of these people have lived beneath these glaciers their entire lives," said geographer Jeffrey Bury, an assistant professor of environmental studies at UCSC. "They can point to where the glacier was when they were children, and now the ice is disappearing. They've watched it move their entire lives."
As the world's highest and most glaciated tropical mountain range, the central Andes have the unfortunate distinction of being at the forefront of global warming. In Peru, residents are already coping with unpredictable seasons and weather extremes that make it hard to know when to plant their crops and graze their animals, said Bury.
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Environmental Protection Can't Be Bought
Like a marketer's dream come true, Americans have responded to environmental hazards by shopping, as if buying bottled water and organic vegetables will protect them and their loved ones.
But "buying green" offers little real defense against environmental degradation and may pose an even greater threat by lulling people into a false sense of security, according to sociologist Andrew Szasz, author of the new book Shopping Our Way to Safety: How We Changed from Protecting the Environment to Protecting Ourselves.
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Climate Change Research
Global warming is one of the greatest challenges facing our society. At UC Santa Cruz, scientists from a broad range of disciplines are studying climate change and exploring ways to curb global warming.
See the entire list of research projects to learn more.
STEPS Institute
The STEPS Institute for Innovation in Environmental Research was established as a campus-wide effort to facilitate interdisciplinary environmental research across the university’s Division of Physical and Biological Sciences, Division of Social Sciences, and Baskin School of Engineering. Dr. James A. Estes has been appointed as the STEPS Interim Director.